The thunder has been so loud some of the time that you can feel the sound vibrating through you. That’s when the cats come and sit really close to me, if the bipeds are busy. The cats know I’ll look after them and protect them. I look after everyone in the household – I am the chief of security. My ancestors were bred to protect flocks in the mountains, so it’s my heritage.

My friend Flea at Jones Natural Chews wrote about the Great Pyrenees, or Pyrenean Mountain Dog, last week and she gave lots of good information and concluded, quite rightly, that we are not the dog for everyone. So I thought I’d tell you a little more about some of the things that mean we’re not right for everyone.

We’re often accused of having selective hearing and a very unreliable recall. I have to admit that’s true for a lot of us! It isn’t naughtiness, it’s a case of priorities. However well-trained a Pyrenean Mountain Dog is, our priority is to protect you, so if we hear a strange noise we’ll be off to investigate. We’ll do all that other obedience stuff to please you, when we’re not too busy!

We’re also accused of being escape artists, especially during adolescence. If we’re alone in the garden for even a few minutes, it needs to have a strong fence at least 5 feet high. If we can get over, or through, the fence we’ll probably take the opportunity to check out the surrounding area and make sure there are no threats. I took advantage of the gate being left open for a few seconds once – I didn’t get very far, but that’s another story! Dogs who are always taken in the car to the park and never walked from the house are particularly determined to explore the neighbourhood.

Flea mentioned how important socialisation is for us. It’s a crucial part of our development because it’s what helps us to be relaxed and calm as adults. The more experiences we have, the better able we are to make sensible decisions.

My bipeds say that I could be like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde as a puppy during training sessions. I quickly became bored, if we were only doing things I thought I already knew how to do. And when I was bored I wasn’t very nice to know! My bipeds spiced up the sessions with new tricks to keep my interest and they became better at noticing the first signs of boredom. A Great Pyrenees doesn’t do something just because you say so. We need to feel it’s worthwhile and I don’t just mean treats – we don’t tend to be as motivated by food as a lot of dogs are.

There were days when I would put a lot of effort into trying to find ways of not doing what I was asked to do. On the odd occasion I avoided doing something, I thought I didn’t have to do anything I was asked to do. I would lead them a merry dance for days! I certainly did my best to keep my bipeds on their toes, while I was growing up. They say that there were times when they were pulling their hair out, but I’m much nicer to know now!

116 Comments

How would the Pyrenees handle the coyote packs? We have big packs that are out of control. Would one dog be overwhelmed? I am not prepared to get a dog now, but will in the future when we stop traveling so much. We have nine acres, and six foot fences. My thought is that no single dog can handle the packs without risk to the dog. Two pyrenees would be A LOT of doggie!! I have a friend who lives on a compound with two wolves nearby. They are the only canine I have seen handle the coyotes although, many people out here have pyrenees or mastiffs, so they can possibly too. It’s hot out here in the summer, but my dogs play outside, and live inside and are inside at night when the packs are most active.

I have no direct experience of coyotes and I hear differing stories of how determined they are. Some people say that they will move on if they come across a large dog and others say that they will lure a dog out into the middle of the pack and kill the dog, but I haven’t seen any stories of them killing a Great Pyrenees. I have seen many people saying that the Great Pyrenees is more than capable of running coyotes off their property.
I’m fairly sure that two dogs could cope, but I can’t really answer the question of whether you actually need two dogs. I think you need someone who understands the behaviour of the coyotes in your area and also knows how a Great Pyrenees works to help you decide that. If you have trouble finding someone drop me a note and I’ll see if any of my contacts can help you find someone who can help.

The first Great Pyr I met was one of a family of three. We have coyote packs here in Oklahoma, and the woman the Pyr belonged to had poultry covering several acres. The Pyr were there to protect the birds from the coyotes. She’d had them for a long time and said they did a great job at keeping the coyotes away. They fought with them. It was a mother, father and son set. I don’t know about it packs, but I can’t imagine that many poultry wouldn’t attract packs of coyotes.

It’s great to hear more about you Clowie……I think you’re a “whole lotta dog” but so beautiful and smart too. My Mom says I have very selective hearing but certain words I ALWAYS hear but I suppose all of us are like that to some degree!!! All I know is that I’m very happy to be your friend……..

Really enjoy learning more about your breed first hand (guess that should be first paw), Clowie. The only Pyrenees I’ve met have been working dogs who were raised with sheep and lived with the sheep full time. A very different life than yours. I’ve often wondered what it would be like to have one as a family pet and how those guard dog duties would translate in a family environment. Thanks!

You are so similar to my Kuvasz sister! She made my mom cry a lot when she was a puppy! Her independence was taxing on Mom but she loves her and enjoys the challenge most of the time. Your breed is wonderful but not for the light hearted owner! Now that Katie is 11, she has gotten much more trustworthy but is still apt to take off on a whim…just not as far or fast! Pyrs, Kuvasz, that whole family of breeds are wonderful.

I think I’d get on very well with Katie – we agree on all the important things. I’ve heard my bipeds say that they think they could cope with most dogs after surviving my puppyhood – I take that as a compliment! Do you know Jasper and Nellie? [http://jaspersdoggyworld.wordpress.com/] They are Maremmas and they are very similar in lots of ways.

We not only had selective hearing we were well naughty too Clowie. It took us some time to train our peoples. We had the mother of all hail storms yesterday. The garden is a mess. Hope your storms stop soon. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
Best wishes Molly

I’m a “don’t leave-him-unattended-in-the-backyard”-dog too. But I will work to get a selective hearing – my staff says that would be a substantial progress :o) I’ve read that only ONE of your ancestors was enough to protect a whole castle or manor. Not bad huh?

My biped laughed about selective hearing being an improvement! Yes, my breed was very popular with the French nobility for guarding their homes. One of the reasons was that if we’ve seen people come to the house, we’ll allow them to do so again and only alert to unusual things. A lot of the specialised guard dogs won’t allow anyone to approach.

Hi Clowie,
I think us dogs are just misunderstood. We beagles have a trait called “willfulness” and we too like to escape our gardens and sniff out the whole neighbourhood. You never know where a rabbit might be lurking. I think the bipeds just need to know that we’re thinking about a lot of things and there has to be a purpose to all these tricks that they want us to learn. We’re busy dogs with purpose!
Maggie

Yes, I think we often are misunderstood when we’re just doing what our ancestors were bred to do. Bipeds seem think we should be waiting to see what they are going to ask us to do, when we have so many much more important things to take care of!

My former neighbor had two dogs just like you. I lived next door when the old one was alive and he was fairly mellow and sweet. After he passed on, she got a puppy. OMG! He was jiving all over the place. Lovable and sweet but he would bound over into my yard whenever he saw me and knock me down to give me kisses. Took a lot of training to get him somewhat under control. You are a beautiful wonderful breed!

Most Informative Clowie Post ever ……….
really well put together –
again = i see your breed everywhere –
But getting to know you a Bit more ……….here – and everywhere –
whenever i meet one like You – i learn xx
WAIT 🙂 there is No one like Clowie 🙂
lol
xxx
Truth xxx
Thanks for educating me beautiful Clowie xx

This is good advice!
I wish more people were this honest about dogs.
Often, we hear people try to simplify that Newfs are just black Great Pyrenees (or vice versa), and I don’t think that does a service to either breed. In my experience, where Newfs may be more aloof (a training challenge in itself), GPs can sometimes be a little bit more… mischevious, maybe.
But both great dogs.
Whenever people stop and ask about having giant breeds – the inherently assume that they are lazy and don’t need training, and I can’t stress training and socialization enough! (For any dog, really.)

I agree with you about how important socialisation is, and it’s especially important for any of the giant breeds. We all benefit from early training – we get big so quickly! I have often heard people telling my bipeds that all giant dogs are naturally well-behaved because they’ve never seen one that isn’t. My bipeds usually tell them to go and look in the local rescue centre where they’ll find a selection of large boisterous dogs under a year old!
It’s great to meet you. I love Newfs!

Thanks for sharing! Hearing about a dog breed from someone who actually has one is much more insightful. Who knows. Maybe someday I will have a Pyrenees or Pyrenees mix, although it is intimidating to think of all that shedding hair. 🙂

Oh such antics! Sounds like you were a challenge but then many of us were too when we were young. Our dog used to jump up on his dog house in the 6 foot kennel and lounge at the wire fence until he’d get his paws on top and them pull and scrap his way over then (like you say) flop over to freedom. It was very amusing. Lucky he never went far. I always worried about coyotes, sadly, I’m pretty sure they got my our cat. That’s why Blossum and Petals are never going outside.